


Family Is What Matters

by vix_spes



Series: Hobbit Kink Meme Fills [3]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-07
Updated: 2013-07-07
Packaged: 2017-12-18 01:32:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Theirs might not be what was once viewed as a traditional family but, after the sack of Erebor, family is what matters and tradition be damned…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Is What Matters

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](http://hobbit-kink.livejournal.com/3900.html?thread=7643708#t7643708) at the Hobbit kink meme on LJ. Beta-ed by the fabulous [persikay](http://persikay.livejournal.com)

Despite the fact that he was the youngest of the three of them, it had been Bombur who got married first. His wife, Harana, had lived in Ered Luin all of her life and was a fine figure of a dwarrow dam. Bombur had never been one for the forges, but when they had been courting for a year, he had happily taken himself off to the forge in order to craft beads for her beautiful dark hair and beard. Most of the dwarrows in Ered Luin, those who hadn’t travelled there from Erebor, couldn’t understand why they didn’t move into a house of their own but instead continued living with Bombur’s brother and cousin. But those who had escaped from Erebor and from Smaug, some of whom had even escaped from Khazad-Dûm centuries before, understood all too well; you needed to keep your family close for you never knew what would happen.

That was something that the family ‘Ur were more than familiar with. With the brothers having lost their parents at a fairly young age; their mother in childbirth along with their unborn sister, and their father in a mining accident, Bofur and Bombur had been taken into the care of their older cousin Bifur. The three of them had lived together for years, from as far back as the brothers could remember until the battle of Azanulbizar had happened. Both Bombur and Bofur had been too young to fight but had instead watched as Bifur had marched off as part of Thrór’s army. They had then had to watch as the remnants of the dwarrow army had returned, their numbers decimated, this time led by the young Prince Thorin with both King Thrór and Prince Frerin killed and Prince Thráin driven mad and lost in the wilds. Still, Bifur may have returned with an axe in his head but he had at least returned, even if he was forever changed. The fact that he had been reduced to only communicating in Khuzhdûl or Iglishmêk was of no matter; he was still their cousin.

As he had looked after and cared for them, so they would for him. Nothing was going to change that, not even the fact that Bombur was now married.

When Harana had first discovered that she was pregnant, Bifur and Bofur had both offered to move out, stating that surely the soon-to-be new parents would want their own space. The two of them would get a place close by in case either Bombur or Harana needed anything. The suggestion had been shot down in flames. The same kind of situation obviously worked for the exiled Royal family who all lived together. Even though these days, it was just Thorin and his sister Dís along with her sons, and Thorin’s heirs, Fíli and Kíli. If it was good enough for royals then it was good enough for commoners. The subject had never been broached again, not even where there were seven dwarflings running around the house and Harana was expecting her eighth.

That in itself was highly unusual. Regardless of where they resided, most dwarrow dams had been unable to carry more than two babes successfully although occasionally some mothers, such as Rias, mother of Dori, Nori and now Ori, were able to. Most ended in miscarriage or, even worse, the death of both mother and child as with Bofur and Bombur’s mother. With the dwarrows of Erebor now in exile, dwarrow dams giving birth at all was an incredible gift and, until Harana, the number of dwarflings could be counted on two hands. Harana had taken to pregnancy and childbirth like a duck to water, seemingly not suffering like most dwarrow dams did. Their family may not be the same as everybody elses but it worked for them.

When Harana had been pregnant with her first child, Bifur and Bofur had been concerned about where they would fit in as part of this new family unit. Bofur never been around dwarflings before and Bifur hadn’t been near any since Bombur and Bofur and he had only ever been around them as dwarflings under supervision. Neither of them needed to have worried because every single dwarfling that Harana bore adored their Uncle Bofur and Cousin Bifur, and the feeling was completely mutual. Bombur and Harana were never short of babysitters and could even be heard to complain on occasion that their children loved their uncle and their cousin more than they loved their parents.

That being said, the cousins both had very specific roles within the family unit, which was just a little bit stranger than others in and around the Blue Mountains. When they had lived in Erebor, Bofur and Bifur had worked in the mines delving for gold, mithril and precious gems while Bombur had worked in the kitchens. When they had been driven out of Erebor by Smaug, a large number of those who had fled had been miners and, without a mountain to mine, there simply wasn’t a need for their talents and skills in the Blue Mountains. Whilst the former smiths had been able to find work in the cities of men, those who had worked in other professions had been forced to find other career paths in order to make money for themselves and their families. Bombur and Harana took what work they could that would enable them to work at home or close to home as much as possible. Harana took some bits of sewing and mending that could be fitted around looking after the dwarflings and running the family home while Bombur took work as a tinker. As such, it fell to Bifur and Bofur to bring in most of the money for the family.

In the early years of living in Ered Luin, Bofur had gone out with the travelling groups of miners in an attempt to find work that he was good at but with so many miners looking for work it was hard to get anything. As a result, with times becoming harder and leaner, Bifur and Bofur had turned to a talent that, up until now, they had only practiced in order to provide gifts for their nieces, nephews and cousins; toy-making.

Every year when the weather started to turn just that little bit colder and the landscape started to die off, the two of them would hole up in Bombur’s house in Ered Luin and spend the cold, dark days making toys that they could sell. Not to mention the toys that inevitably found their way into the hands of the children, despite Bombur and Harana’s protests that they were being spoilt. Bifur and Bofur ignored their protests, claiming that it was their prerogative to spoil the dwarflings and that they would continue to do so. They would spend half of the year in Ered Luin while they created new toys to capture the imaginations of the children of Middle-Earth and fixed the broken toys of their family (he may not look like it but Bifur was more than a dab hand at creating new outfits for toy dolls), teaching the dwarflings songs and dances to the accompaniment of Bofur’s whistle as well as songs and tales of their people in Khuzhdûl. Not every dwarfling would be taught Khuzhdûl – formal learning was left to the noble families – as it was more of a ceremonial and formal language, Iglishmêk being more commonly taught, but when it had become apparent that Bifur could no longer communicate in anything but Khuzhdûl and Iglishmêk, both Bombur and Harana had insisted that their dwarflings be able to talk to their cousin.

And you could guarantee that wherever Bifur and Bofur were, the children wouldn’t be far away. Sadly, the fact that they were so close to their uncle and cousin always meant that the dwarflings were devastated when, as soon as the weather took a turn for the better, the two cousins would be off travelling around the villages and towns selling as many toys as they could. There simply wasn’t the demand in Ered Luin and what dwarflings did live there, Bifur and Bofur were always happy to gift with whichever toys grabbed their attention. Dwarflings at least had a liking for the sometimes macabre creations that Bifur came up with, the human children always preferring Bofur’s colourful creations.

It wasn’t the ideal life. Ideally, they wouldn’t have to spend half the year travelling in order to sell their toys. Ideally they would still be living in Erebor and not in the Blue Mountains. Ideally, they wouldn’t have to spend half the year away from their family.

Ideally, a lot of things in their life would be different, but at least that they had family to return to and that was what mattered.


End file.
